With thousands of hostels using all different systems to manage their hostels, ranging from high-end PMS systems to old school paper & pencil, there are a wide variety of opinions.
Magazine Article Keyword: Surveys
Lonely Planet surveyed 2,000 travelers from the UK and Ireland on their most-likely travel destinations, and the USA was at the top:
Finnish hotels/hostel nights up in May 2008 over May 2007:
Hostelbookers.com lists 10,000 properties in 2,500 destinations. They have reported that bookings in 2008 are up by 83%. Their top 10 most popular destinations in 2008 are:
Swiss hostels saw a 4.4 percent increase in visitor nights in 2007 over 2006:
Switzerland's 58 youth hostels registered 912,000 nights spent by tourists last year, a rise of 4.4 per cent compared with 2006.
YHA Australia reports that the numbers of solo female travelers are increasing:
A boost in women backpackers travelling alone has led the country's largest hostel group to encourage them to take extra precautions.
Sweden had a record tourism summer in 2006:
According to Nutek, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, overnight visits for the summer added 3.9 billion kronor to the Swedish economy, which represents a ten percent increase on the previous year.
Photo courtesy of tomboy-tarts.com
A few excerpts about Flashpackers from the news:
From the Times Online: